To make progress on your graduate student
track, there are a number of milestones you must cross along the way. Here
is a brief description of the major milestones in chronological order; click
on the links for more information.

Enrollment

To be a full-time graduate student you must enroll for 9 credit hours each semester until your
course work is completed. TAs and RAs may be eligible for a smaller load upon department approval.
After course work is finished, you must enroll for at least 2 credit hours
per semester, including the semester you graduate. And you must earn a "C-" or better in a minimum
of 6 credit hours per year.
You can find
more information on enrollment requirements at this website.

Qualifying Exam

The qualifying exam tests your mastery of
undergraduate physics. For PhD students: The qualifying exam must be passed
before you can become a full-fledged PhD student. If you do not pass after three
attempts, you will not be allowed to continue in the PhD program. For MS
students: You must take the qualifying exam (typically your first week here)
for assessment purposes, but a passing grade is not required. You can find
more information on the qualifying exam at this
website.

Study List

Together with your advisor, you must choose
which courses you will take to satisfy your graduation requirements. This study
list must be approved by the Graduate Committee Coordinator, typically at
the start of the second semester for MS students
and by the beginning of the second year for PhD students. You can find more information on the study
list at this website.

In the first two years each PhD student must accomplish the following:

Pass the qualifying examination.

Earn at least a B- in the five non-repeatable committee-required courses on their study list.

Have an overall GPA of 3.0, or better.

Prospectus

A prospectus is a research proposal to the
department: what you plan to research, how to plan to study it, and why it
is important. You must provide a written document and give an oral defense
before your advisory committee. MS students typically complete their
prospectus just after their second semester; PhD students typically just
after their second year.You can find more
information on the prospectus at this website.

Candidacy Exam

This exam is only for PhD students.
Approximately two years after starting your PhD program, you must pass the
candidacy exam. This exam involves a presentation of research you have
performed so far, in order to demonstrate your
research competency and productivity.
Like the prospectus, both a written document and an oral defense must be
done. This is typically done about six months after the prospectus defense. You can find more information on the
candidacy exam at this website.